Purple hull pea salad

I’ve been working on the pickle section of my book, and I’ve concluded that just about anything can be brined and preserved. Fruit, vegetables, meat, and eggs—it’s a rare food that doesn’t get a flavor boost from vinegar, spices, aromatics, salt and (sometimes) sugar. So when I was trying to come up with new ways to serve the pounds of purple hull peas I brought back with me from Texas, my decision was simple: I’d pickle my purple hull peas.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of eating purple hull peas, they’re a field pea that is similar to black-eyed peas, but with a more delicate and sweet flavor. They’re also prettier with their light-purple blush.

My family never grew purple-hull peas because apparently with these good looks comes high maintenance—they’re a lot tougher to shell than other field peas. But if you do persist, you will be rewarded with a creamy, light pea that needs little adornment to taste wonderful. In Texas, this time of year you will find fresh purple-hull peas sold on the side of the road, at farmers markets and at many grocery stores, too. I’ve never seen them sold fresh, frozen or dried in New York, which is why I’ve taken to stocking up if I happen to make it home during the summer. Though if you live in Texas, you’ll find them year round in the freezer section as well as fresh during the summer.

The simplest way to prepare them is to boil them for about half an hour, with some aromatics such as onion and garlic. You can also throw in some bacon and jalapeños if you’re feeling bold. And with just a sprinkle of salt and a wedge of cornbread, you’ll have yourself a fine feast.

To stave off summer’s heat, however, I wanted to make something cold and tangy. So instead of serving a steaming bowl, I instead tossed my cooked peas with some lime juice, jalapeños, peppers, garlic and olive oil, stuck them in a jar and refrigerated them. And yep, I decided that they were indeed pickled!

These go well with chips, in a scooped-out tomato, tossed in a salad or simply eaten on their own. And if you can’t find purple hull peas, you can easily substitute black-eyed peas.

I love purple hull peas. Never thought of them as particularly Texan, but since I've never lived anywhere else… I'm just spoiled! I have fond memories of my family (parents, two brothers and grandmother) all shelling peas in appropriate sized bowls while watching the Miss America (I think?) pagents. We would buy a huge bag (bushel?) unshelled to save money. 🙂

I don't know how you read my mind, but I made something very similar to this just last night! Of course, I couldn't find my beloved purple hulls in Northern California, so I used black eyed peas.Great photos 🙂Hope the book is coming along nicely!

My Big Granny (great-grandmother) used to make something like this around this time of year, and we would eat it with every meal when I was little. Big Granny was a large German woman who became devoted to Southern cooking and she taught my grandmother, and my mother everything she knew. Thanks for posting this and reminding me of her!

I've been thinking of pickles lately too. I just made some this weekend. Your salad looks fabulous and very different from the spicy sweet pickles recipe I posted. I like your spice combination with lime and olive oil. I'm made a similar salad with black beans and added some avocado. I'd love to try these purple hull peas. I'm intrigued.

My Cajun great-grandmother used to make purple hull pea jelly! They always remind me of Louisiana rather than Texas for that reason, I think. I have fond memories of shelling peas with her and helping her can them during my summer visits. This looks delicious! No chance of finding those in England, I'm afraid! But I'm sure I might be able to find some Black-Eye Beans (what they call black-eyed peas).

My first job was picking purple hull peas in Ashley County, Arkansas as a kid. I remember a nice old man teaching me to fluff the bushel to look full before I turned it into the foreman. (Purple hull peas bought a few Kiss records and hair barrettes that summer.) Say "purple hull pea" to me and the creamy, starch, sweet taste of them and that same smell in the field comes to mind. Look, now you made me homesick again.

I do however, love to pickle/brine things. This year has been the basics – snow peas, pickles, and the chicken brine (which is amazing, and now i think all chicken should be brined!), but with the CSA getting really good, i'm sure there will be a lot more!

Love those purple hull peas! And can't wait to try your salad, it looks delicious! You are right, they aren't easy to shell. I grew some this year in my NEW garden and couldn't wait for the first bowl until I started shelling! They are worth it thou. Thanks love your blog!

This was excellent, made it this weekend – I like the use of lime juice and just the simplicity of it. I did cut back on the olive oil. And I didn't get the chance to buy fresh peas so bought canned black-eye…don't know if it was the brand, but half of them were mushy and the skins were off, so it didn't look too pretty. I am going to try again and buy fresh. Or I have seen frozen purple hulls, any ideas if those are ok? Thanks again for a variation I liked better than the traditional Texas Caviar.Linda

Purple Hulled Peas… OMG….I'm in SC, but my Dad swore everyone HAD to grow a tomato plant AND purple hulled peas. Grew up in a well to do ranch house… Dad tilled a nice swath where the water dripped from the roof… he attached welded wire to the roof soffit and to the ground at the drip line. He'd plant purple hulled peas just inside the slanted wire, and tomato plants just outside the drip line. We'd enjoy way too many peas and way too many tomatoes… but everyone was fat and happy…LOL. PS.. yes we had to climb a ladder to harvest the peas. Fond memories.

Purple hull peas and cornbread and creamed potatoes (not at the same time mind you) are what I miss most since I moved north. Followed closely by boiled peanuts, fried chicken livers and fried okra. I cannot tell you how many sunday afternoons I spent shelling peas from the garden… Thanks for the reminder

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